


Doomed to Repeat

by Iosa



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dark Side of Dimensions, Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 03:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10454430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iosa/pseuds/Iosa
Summary: Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  And sometimes those who do learn repeat it anyway.  Because sometimes, in the face of hopelessness, there are no other options.  It's with a heavy heart that Yugi Mutou accepts this truth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic uses a mix of elements from the Japanese and English dubs.

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.  It was supposed to be _over_ , damnit!  All their struggling, all their suffering, all their blood, sweat, and tears were supposed to end all of this!  But it didn’t, so what was it all for?  Were they the punchline to some cosmic joke?  Did they anger the gods in some way?  Had he not sacrificed enough?  Had the Pharaoh not sacrificed enough?  Was there _anything_ they could’ve done differently to avoid all of this?

No.  There was nothing.  The moment Atem passed the threshold separating the mortal world and the afterlife, their fates, _Yugi’s_ fate, had been sealed.  None of them knew the Plana even existed, let alone that the Pharaoh’s passing would make it the instrument of Diva’s vengeance.  How could they have stopped something that was in motion long before Kaiba’s misguided obsession to resurrect the Pharaoh, long before Atem’s story ended, long before Yugi had ever completed the puzzle and freed the spirit that slept within?

Fate really _did_ have other plans, didn’t it? 

It was cruel.  So _unbelievably_ cruel.  He was supposed to live a long and happy life, a life he was looking forward to.  He was supposed to graduate in a couple of weeks and start his life as an adult and explore his true potential.  He wanted to create games of his own design that would bring joy to people around the world.  He wanted to watch Joey become the high-ranked duelist he was always meant to be.  He wanted to see Tea achieve her lifelong dream and become a respected and famous dancer.  He wanted to be there when Mokuba grew up and truly became his brother’s equal.  He wanted to finally earn Seto Kaiba’s grudging respect.

He was supposed to have long and exciting stories to tell the Pharaoh when he finally joined him in the afterlife.  And Atem would be so, _so_ proud of him.

And none of it would ever happen.

There was no way to defeat Diva.  Yugi knew this.  Winning this duel would mean nothing; the Plana could only be truly banished by Atem’s return.  And Atem wouldn’t return, because Atem was dead.  And Yugi only had himself to thank for that.  There would be no glorious last stand of the king.  There would be no Egyptian Gods descending from on high at his summons.  There would be no Creator God of Light to strike down the evil in the name of the Pharaoh, because Yugi wasn’t a pharaoh.  But maybe . . . .

Yugi lowered his hands, cradling the Puzzle with his fingers.

“I’m ending this now, Diva.”

Diva cackled, and Yugi could almost see the malice physically dripping from his lips.  “How foolish.  Only the Pharaoh can negate the Plana’s power.  Did your role as the Vessel inflate your ego so much that you think you can replace him?  Your importance ended with him.  There’s nothing you can do.”

“I know I’m not the Pharaoh.  But I have it on good authority that I have the heart of one.”

_'Millennium Puzzle, if I truly am what I think I am, then please, hear my plea and grant one last wish!'_

A familiar and comforting warmth radiated from the Puzzle.  Yugi’s heart thumped painfully in his chest.

“Do you know why I was chosen to solve the Puzzle, Diva?  Why I was the only possible person capable of it in 3,000 years?  Why I was the only one worthy to be the Pharaoh’s Vessel?”

A warm glow gradually emanated from the Puzzle, as Yugi fought to swallow the knot in his throat.

“I’ve often wondered that myself, to be honest.  Atem always told me there was a reason that fate chose me.  Ishizu said that I was his reincarnation-”

Diva slammed his fist into the ground, the resulting shock wave causing Yugi to topple to the floor in a pained heap.

“Of course you’re not, you worthless puppet!  How could a soul that was sealed away reincarnate?  Gods, you really _do_ think you’re that important, don’t you?  How pathetic!”

Yugi painfully staggered to his feet, his resolve still strong.  On shaking legs, he returned his hands to the Puzzle.  Maybe he wasn’t a reincarnation, but there had to be a reason why he was chosen, why he and Atem were so similar -- near identical, even.  If not a reincarnation of the Pharaoh’s soul, then perhaps an all new incarnation, a new soul that was the modern day counterpart to the Pharaoh.

Focusing his thoughts and will on the Puzzle, channeling a power that was so familiar to him, Yugi concentrated solely on his final wish.  He didn’t know how Atem did it before, so he just had to do it his own way.  The Puzzle suddenly burst with light.

Diva roared in outrage.

“What is this?!”

“I can’t banish you or the Plana.  I’m not Atem.  But I _am_ strong enough to do the next best thing!”

The Puzzle forcefully ensnared Diva, dragging him towards Yugi.  He screamed and clawed futilely at the ground.

“You’re insane!  How is this even possible?!”  

Yugi glared defiantly, tears finally streaming down his face.  He wondered if this was how Atem felt thousands of years ago.

“Because I have people that I need to protect!”

With a final roar, Diva’s body started to disintegrate as his soul and power were sucked into the Puzzle, the Millennium Ring falling uselessly to the ground.  As Yugi began to feel a tug on his own soul, he also felt the strange sensation of something frantically pushing against it, as if trying to stop the ritual currently taking place, accompanied by feelings of fear and desperation.  Believing it to be Diva trying to escape, Yugi forcefully shoved back with his own will.  The sensation vanished, and Yugi’s body rapidly disintegrated into light.  As the last of his body vanished and the rest of his soul sealed within the Puzzle, Yugi’s final thought was, strangely enough, ‘I hope Kaiba leaves the Puzzle _alone_ this time.’

With the King of Games and Plana fully imprisoned, the Millennium Puzzle shone brilliantly like a miniature sun.  And as the damage done from the Plana was reversed due to its disappearance, the Puzzle shattered, its sealed power so great that it cast its pieces into the horizon and across the globe.

 

* * *

 

The Millennium Puzzle was shattered, most of the pieces were missing, and Yugi was gone.  That was the first thing Seto Kaiba realized when he woke up and found a judgmental golden eye staring coldly at him.  The second thing was that Diva was also gone and everything was restored.   _But_ _the Millennium Puzzle was shattered, most of the pieces were missing, and Yugi was gone._  Yugi was supposed summon the Pharaoh and bring him back to Earth.  Instead, Kaiba found himself lacking not just one rival, but _two._  The third thing he realized was that Yugi had vanished during a highly publicized event of his own making, and that both he and his company would be held responsible for the loss of the King of Games in the public eye.

The fourth was that this wasn’t nearly as gut wrenching as hearing Mokuba brokenly ask, “Where’s Yugi, Seto?  Where did he go?”

 

* * *

 

Somewhere in the world, a trio of siblings, former tomb keepers, shed tears over their failure as guardians, and for the innocent soul who unjustly sentenced himself to a fate worse than death.  And while the youngest among them screamed out curses and bloodied his fist against an abused wall, the other two could only look forlornly at each other and wonder:

_How would they ever be able to explain this to their Pharaoh?_

 

* * *

 

_In a plane of existence beyond the mortal realm, where the golden sands of Kemet danced and its empire reigned eternally, a howl of despair and anguish shook the land, a sorrow so deep and powerful that it could be felt by all who heard it.  And those who heard it knew:_

_Part of their beloved Pharaoh’s heart had been lost._

 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was based on a tumblr post which asked, "What if Yugi couldn't defeat Diva and had to seal them both away in the puzzle, causing the pieces to scatter across the world, and when Kaiba woke up, all he found was the puzzle's eye piece?"
> 
> I don't know if I'll write more of this AU, as this was always intended to be a one-shot.


End file.
